Hi, deb jessi here. Loved all the birds in the back round noise. Bet it was beautiful morning. From watching the video what I could see is that you are reissuing your command after you have corrected Maevie from her stand stay. And we correct broken stays from the front and then back away with are right foot to make the dog be accountable. Also when you are returning to your dog be sure to come up with your right foot to stabilize the dog. Roxanne tell me what you think if my observations were correct.
Good comments Jessi. Let me add a few. Deb, every time you Step Back to Your Dog in Heel position for breaking a Stand/Stay, you lower your dog's belief they HAVE to maintain the Stand. Why? Because the Stand Correction at this point in the training is done from the front of the dog as you move towards them and put a hand between their front legs and tap their belly. What you are doing by doing a Step Back to your Dog into Heel position is NOT a correction, rather it is a 'start over'. And by reissuing your Stay command/signal, you are training the dog it does not have to take responsibility to maintain the Stand as you will do a 'start over'. Maevie doesn't need that kind of help, she just needs clarity from you in exactly what you expect.
On the Stand, work her on a Place Board or even on the side patio so her front legs are on the elevated surface. She is 'creeping' and that morphs into other issues big time so fix it now.
Also, do you remember how to do the Stand with the hand signal, leash in palm of right hand, slight forward pull as you command, "Stand" the left foot is between front and rear legs and goes up -into her belly lightly. She will intuitively move AWAY from that touch. As the left foot is 'helping her', she can't creep forward if on an elevated surface, and then the right hand ceases any forward pull, instead it goes in front of her face, approximately 4", right thumb to the sky, palm towards the dog. Believe it or not, this mechanic, in time morphs into the Signal Stand/Moving Stand.
Before you leave her in a Stand, 'set' her shoulders which will help her brace and steady her.
When you do a Return to Your Dog, step off on your RIGHT Foot as this is a small cue that solidifies a dogs Stay, any Stay. And when you come up into Heel position, come beside the dog with your RIGHT foot, then close with your left foot. Again, this is a small cue that solidifies a dogs Stay, any Stay. These are all cues Margot taught me you CAN use 'in the ring' to stabilize a dog in a stressful situation. But in reality, they are cues you should be doing automatically with any dog, so they learn better to trust your cues/footwork.
Finally, pick up your head and look where you are heeling the dog. You have a tendency to look down and when you do so, you slow down, you slow WAY down. The slower the pace, the less attention the dog gives you and the less they focus on their job which is maintaining Heel position. Maevie looks good, so do you. BUT you can both look a lot sharper by changing a few things and your Pace is one thing you default into moving slowly because you consistently drop your head. As you drop your head, your shoulders slump forward and your Pace slows. This is a killer on heeling points in the ring and it actually trains a dog to have a "Ho-hum, la-la-la" attitude towards the handler.
If you have the videos of Jessi working Huck or Maevie or Chip or etc., notice her Pace is noticeably faster than yours and each dog promptly picks up its attention and responsibility to work FOR and WITH Jessi. Although Jessi doesn't pick up her head and look forward (we'll get to that when we do the Titling a Dog Class later this year), her Pace is rapid forcing the dog she's working to ignore everything else and pay close attention to her. Pace is the key to getting a dog to go from a " "Ho-hum, la-la-la" attitude to a "Yes'm, what is it exactly you wanted me to do?"
Hi, deb jessi here. Loved all the birds in the back round noise. Bet it was beautiful morning.
ReplyDeleteFrom watching the video what I could see is that you are reissuing your command after you have corrected Maevie from her stand stay. And we correct broken stays from the front and then back away with are right foot to make the dog be accountable.
Also when you are returning to your dog be sure to come up with your right foot to stabilize the dog.
Roxanne tell me what you think if my observations were correct.
Good comments Jessi. Let me add a few.
ReplyDeleteDeb, every time you Step Back to Your Dog in Heel position for breaking a Stand/Stay, you lower your dog's belief they HAVE to maintain the Stand. Why? Because the Stand Correction at this point in the training is done from the front of the dog as you move towards them and put a hand between their front legs and tap their belly. What you are doing by doing a Step Back to your Dog into Heel position is NOT a correction, rather it is a 'start over'. And by reissuing your Stay command/signal, you are training the dog it does not have to take responsibility to maintain the Stand as you will do a 'start over'. Maevie doesn't need that kind of help, she just needs clarity from you in exactly what you expect.
On the Stand, work her on a Place Board or even on the side patio so her front legs are on the elevated surface. She is 'creeping' and that morphs into other issues big time so fix it now.
Also, do you remember how to do the Stand with the hand signal, leash in palm of right hand, slight forward pull as you command, "Stand" the left foot is between front and rear legs and goes up -into her belly lightly. She will intuitively move AWAY from that touch. As the left foot is 'helping her', she can't creep forward if on an elevated surface, and then the right hand ceases any forward pull, instead it goes in front of her face, approximately 4", right thumb to the sky, palm towards the dog. Believe it or not, this mechanic, in time morphs into the Signal Stand/Moving Stand.
Before you leave her in a Stand, 'set' her shoulders which will help her brace and steady her.
When you do a Return to Your Dog, step off on your RIGHT Foot as this is a small cue that solidifies a dogs Stay, any Stay. And when you come up into Heel position, come beside the dog with your RIGHT foot, then close with your left foot. Again, this is a small cue that solidifies a dogs Stay, any Stay. These are all cues Margot taught me you CAN use 'in the ring' to stabilize a dog in a stressful situation. But in reality, they are cues you should be doing automatically with any dog, so they learn better to trust your cues/footwork.
Finally, pick up your head and look where you are heeling the dog. You have a tendency to look down and when you do so, you slow down, you slow WAY down. The slower the pace, the less attention the dog gives you and the less they focus on their job which is maintaining Heel position. Maevie looks good, so do you. BUT you can both look a lot sharper by changing a few things and your Pace is one thing you default into moving slowly because you consistently drop your head. As you drop your head, your shoulders slump forward and your Pace slows. This is a killer on heeling points in the ring and it actually trains a dog to have a "Ho-hum, la-la-la" attitude towards the handler.
If you have the videos of Jessi working Huck or Maevie or Chip or etc., notice her Pace is noticeably faster than yours and each dog promptly picks up its attention and responsibility to work FOR and WITH Jessi. Although Jessi doesn't pick up her head and look forward (we'll get to that when we do the Titling a Dog Class later this year), her Pace is rapid forcing the dog she's working to ignore everything else and pay close attention to her. Pace is the key to getting a dog to go from a " "Ho-hum, la-la-la" attitude to a "Yes'm, what is it exactly you wanted me to do?"
Food for thought.
Roxanne